Geriatric Anxiety and Cognitive Functioning among Elders: The Case of Two Selected Care Centers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Old age is accompanied by different forms of physical and psychological problems. This study aimed to investigate cognitive functioning among elders with symptoms of depression.

Methods:  This study employed a cross-sectional descriptive survey. In this study, 116 participants were purposefully selected out of 148 elders from two institutionalized care centers in Addis Ababa with inclusive criteria. The instruments of data collection were GAI-20 and MMSE. Mean, Standard deviation, t-test, ANOVA, and Pearson correlation coefficient were used as methods of data analysis.

Results: This study showed that the elders had high rate of anxiety (63.8%). In addition, 87.1% of elders had declined cognitive functioning. Similarly, the study indicated that there was statistically significant inverse relationship between anxiety and cognitive functioning (r= -0.511, p<.01).

Conclusion: The finding revealed that anxiety and cognitive decline were higher among the elders. Females had lower cognitive functioning compared to their male counterparts.  An increased age and lower level of literacy were associated with lower cognitive functioning and higher symptoms of anxiety. I suggest that further research is needed to be conducted on non-institutionalized elders.